Question 4

QUESTION 4By Rosanna Todd

Monday, 25 February 13

“How did you use media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?”

For this question I will reflect on the production process that took place whilst making our television documentary, radio trailer and double-page spread.

I will talk about the software and hardware that we used in order to complete our products and how useful I found them to be.

I will then reflect on how effectively we used the technology that was available to us.


RESEARCH AND PLANNING

When first setting out to produce our products we started by making a list of what

the topic for our documentary would be. Many non-technological methods were used during this process such as making hand-drawn mind-maps and lists on paper. Once we had decided on the topic of ‘Twitter’ we drew storyboards to help us structure our documentary and so that we knew what to include. We found this a

successful and useful way of planning even though we did not use any media technologies.

Whilst planning for our documentary, an important decision to make was to decide on which channel our documentary would be shown on. To do this we researched in depth into different

existing television channels such as channel 4, BBC 1, BBC 3 and Channel 5. Factors which influenced our decision were issues such as what time it would need to be shown at and which

channel has the largest audience. We also took into consideration our target audience and what channel they would be likely to

watch. In the end, our decision was to broadcast our documentary on BBC 3 as it already has existing documentaries shown on it which are similar to our genre of documentary. It also aims its programs at a young target audience which would

match with our documentary. To carry out this research we used google to search for the channel websites where we could also

view their documentaries and programs.

Websites on Internet Explorer such as Wikipedia, BBC, the Twitter

homepage and The Guardian also provided us with facts and statistics

that we included in our documentary. We used google as

our main search engine and Internet Explorer as our web browser.

We also used online programs such as iPlayer and 4OD to watch and analyse documentaries from The BBC and Channel 4. YouTube also

came in handy when wanting to view documentaries which were no longer running

on regular channel websites.

1)2)

3)4)

We found all these

sites very useful!


RESEARCH AND PLANNINGTo keep track of our progress and the

research we had already done we uploaded our findings and analysis onto ‘Blogger.com’

where our group had our own blog which we updated regularly with our latest plans and

ideas. This form of media technology was very useful to us because it meant we could store our ideas all in one place and also be able to see posts from each member of our group at

any point.

• Slideshare-I used Slideshare to convert my power-points into slides that can be more easily viewed on our blog

• Scribd- I used this to change my word documents into files that can be read on a blog by scrolling down.

• Prezi- I used this as an alternative to powerpoint and slideshare as it is a more interesting and interactive way of creating a presentation.

This media technology was very useful to me as it made my research and planning stand out and make it more interactive and readable. I also used these websites in the evaluation stages of my coursework

This software allowed me to upload my

work onto: Blogger.com


We also used the programming software “Comic” to create a storyboard that we used as a guide throughout the filming process for our documentary. We found this very helpful and easy to use. We used the iMac to create

this product.

RESEARCH AND PLANNING


FILMINGCamera-

To film all of the footage for our documentary we used a Canon HG20 Video Camera which records all of the footage onto an internal 60GB hard drive. It had many useful features such as a flip out LCD screen, a USB connection, Lens, and zoom control and photo button. We used all these features to our advantage particularly making the use of the “zoom” button and the lens which allowed us to manipulate the focus. Certain effects on the camera also allowed us to change the lighting balance to “white” which gave it a very natural look. In addition to using the camera for filming, we also used it to take still shots for stills featured in our documentary such as the cyber-bullying poster.

Tripod

Microphone & HeadphonesTo access the

equipment we had to fill out an ‘Equipment

Request’ form and get it signed by our

teacher.

We used a tripod to place the camera on so that we could achieve a steady shot. This was particularly useful when filming vox pops and expert interviews. The tripod allowed us to be able to do steady pans and zooms without the camera shaking. This gave our documentary a very professional look.

To record sound for our documentary we used a directional microphone. This was needed for recording the vox pops, expert interviews and scripted narration for our documentary. To be able to hear what we were recording, we plugged in headphones to the camera so that we could ensure that the sound levels were equal (e.g. voice can be heard over any background noise). When recording around college this was useful, as places like the canteen were very rowdy and lots of background noise was being picked up. The headphones allowed us to hear this straight away and we could then make sure that we prevented from filming any interviews in there. We also went into a quiet empty room to record the narration so that no background noise was picked up and this worked effectively.


FILMING

This shot was a pan of the police room. This is an example of where we used the tripod to be able to achieve

a steady pan.

Here we hand-held the camera as the tripod was not able to be placed at such a low angle. We had to lie on the floor to

be able to achieve this shot but I think that it looks very effective and is different to the other shots in our documentary as

it is at such a low tilted angle.


EDITING

1) To begin the editing process we uploaded the clips from the camera onto the Apple iMac. We did this by simply copying the files over to the media drive and then into our folder.

Our folder on the media

drive

This is the content of our folder, here we

stored all of our footage, music, documents and

images.


EDITING

2) We then opened up the software ‘Final Cut Express’

which we used to edit the whole of our documentary.

3) We used this software to “log and transfer” the clips so that we could then edit them efficiently. Once they were all

imported, we labelled each clip so that we could identify them easily and quickly.

Our documentary was saved under “Video” so

that we could access this quickly when starting the

lesson’s work.


EDITINGThis is our documentary in Final Cut Express

Unedited imported footage

The Timeline

Edited visual footage

Tools used for editing

Time

Sequences

Window used for watching documentary

Playback, rewind and fast-forward

buttons

Audio from footage clips (Diegetic) Background music audio (non-diegetic)


EDITING

We did many edits in our documentary and one of these was changing the speed of a clip to make them faster. We did this by going onto “Modify” then down to “Speed...”. This turned out to be a very successful edit and we used it twice in our documentary, firstly showing students feet walking past at a low angled

camera and secondly a speeded up car journey. Both of these edits worked to show the passage of time in

our documentary.

Shots that we speeded

up


EDITING

Other edits that we did included overlays. This meant that the text overlapped the image on

screen. This allowed us to make captions for the interviews

stating the interviewee’s name and profession.

The overall effect of the overlay

We experimented with video transitions by going onto “Effects” then “Video Transitions” at the top of the

screen on the toolbar.. This then offered a wide range of choices.

We also had to “render” our

footage and audio. This meant that

our documentary was fluent and did not freeze when played back. This was vital when

trying to achieve a professional look.


EDITING

The main transition that we used for our documentary was the cut. This was

because all of the other existing TV documentaries that we had watched only used this transition. To make our documentary look as professional as possible we decided to only use this and I think that this was a successful

move as it didn’t overcomplicate things and made our documentary look

realistic.

Once we had finished editing the visual footage we began to look in more detail at the audio levels. We

added the narration in first and made sure that it fitted effectively with what was going on on screen. It was

crucial that the beginning montage of images and footage had the appropriate narration being stated

along with it and once we had fitted it into the right place this was very successful.

(The straight line marks the point of a cut)

To do this “cut” edit we used the “razor blade” tool to cut

the clip in the exact precise place that

we wanted.


EDITING

Adjusting audio levels for our documentary in Final

Cut Express.

We changed the sound levels by dragging this line. To make it louder we dragged it

higher and to make it quieter we dragged it down. Overall we found that on average, the expert interviews were louder than the rest of the footage. This was more than likely due to the lack of background noise interfering

with the person speaking

Using the software Garage Band we created the music for our documentary . We used a mixture of drum beats and riffs which sounded realistic and professional. Once it was finished we exported the track as an mp3, opened it into Final Cut Express and dragged it onto our timeline.

Our background music


EDITING

To make the audio gradually become quieter or louder we used the “pen tool” to help

achieve this effect. This came in useful during the interviews as we could make the background music quieter so that the

interviewee could be heard over the top. It also made transitions between clips

smoother as the sound could come back in or fade out gradually rather than a sudden loud noise. To use this tool we clicked onto the audio line and the point we wanted the volume to change and dragged accordingly

to either higher (louder) or lower (quieter).

Pen tool


EDITING

We used the software “Photoshop” to create and edit the title page for our documentary. Having already had previous experience of using

Photoshop for past media coursework, I found this software

easy to use.


RADIO TRAILERTo make our Radio Trailer we used the software Garage

Band again like we did for the documentary music. After we had recorded in the individual vocal tracks using a

microphone we cut and edited it in Garage Band. We then chose a laid-back style of music for the radio trailer as this is

what we found existing radio trailers to have. Using a variety of time stretched drum beats and an upright bass, this gave a decent base for the music and it gave the radio trailer a pulse, similar to that of BBC’s “Newsbeat”

We then added a series of vibraphone riffs and more mellow and relaxed instruments to give the track a relaxed feel.


RADIO TRAILER

The track was mastered and produced to give a “vintage” feel but the

modern hip-hop influence grabs the audience’s

attention and appeals to the age bracket of people

our documentary is aimed at.

We used automation and panning to give the track fade ins and outs which gave the track more depth. Time stretching and looping to certain parts was also used to give the track a more modern feel to it. This style resembled some of the elements

used in modern hip-hop production which our target audience may enjoy listening to.


RADIO TRAILER

After using a selection of pre-installed loops, we found Garage Band a useful way of creating our own

original music for our radio trailer.

The editing and creation of the radio trailer was overall

very simple and easy to do yet it remained realistic and sounded professional.


DOUBLE-PAGE SPREAD (MAGAZINE ARTICLE)

I used the software InDesign to construct the double page spread for my magazine article. I think that as a publishing programme, it was very effective as it allowed me to just import my text in efficiently instead of having to make individual columns. Having used InDesign before for my previous media coursework I had some expertise with the program already, however, I still feel that I have learnt a lot about how to use this software from the process of constructing my media product.

Whilst creating the double-page spread we had to remember that it was being produced for the ‘Radio

Times’ magazine. This meant that we had to ensure we followed similar

codes and conventions to that particular magazine so that our

finished article looked realistic and professional.



Construction process of double page spread

1) We started by making the masthead and adding a few

images in.

2) We added some more images onto the page to see

what they would look like and where we could place them.



3) We decided to put four images together to create one main image. All

the images relate well to our documentary as they are screenshots

taken from it.

4) We then added in the stand-first and

pull-quote using the text icon.



5) We then finally imported the text into 3 columns on each page (rule of thirds) to

make the article look realistic and professional. We also added in a drop-capital at the very start of the text by selecting the

letter and enlarging the font size.

6) This is our finished product.


BLOGGER.COM

This was our group on the blog

(group 4)


BLOGGER.COM

Posts on blog showing labels which told us what work

belonged to each member of our group.

Composing a post to be put on blog. This often involved copy and pasting

embedded codes such as off documents uploaded to Slideshare, Prezi and Scribd.


YOUTUBE, PREZI AND SLIDESHARE

These screenshots show us uploading our work onto the sites by using our own registered

accounts.


MORE

College computer and computer at home- I used this technology to use the internet and to write out my research. It was effective because it allowed me to set my work out neatly and to find out more about existing television documentaries.

Scanner, printer and photocopier- I used the scanner technology to transfer my hand-drawn drafts of the double-page spread, newspaper articles and the storyboard onto the computer. I used the printer and photocopier to print out our questionnaires and make more copies of them to hand out to my target audience to fill out. This was effective as it allowed me to complete my audience research and feedback.

Memory stick- I used this form of technology to transfer work I had done at college to my computer at home and back, so I could continue working on it wherever I was. I found this very useful because it meant that I could spend more time on the documentary at college, and pick up from where I left off.

College camera- I used this equipment to take the images for the blog and double-page spread. This was effective because it was an industry standard camera so therefore made my images look more professional and realistic. It also meant that I did not have to bring my own personal camera in from home and risk losing or breaking it.

PowerPoint, word and excel- I used these computer programs to aid me in my research. I also used excel so that I could make graphs and charts of my results (from my questionnaires). These programs were effective because they ensured that my planning and research looked professional


CONCLUSION

In conclusion I believe that we used media technologies effectively in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages.

I now feel that I have learnt a lot of new skills and techniques from using different softwares and hardwares such as Final Cut Express and using a camera, tripod and microphone.

I also think that we took full advantage of the technologies available to us and that these were a success in our work.


Question 4

Documents

Transcript of Question 4